


Backs to the wall

by erza155



Category: Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons)
Genre: Justice Lords, M/M, SuperBat Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-01
Updated: 2018-01-01
Packaged: 2019-02-26 04:59:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13228572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erza155/pseuds/erza155
Summary: A minor exploration of the Justice Lords/ Earth-50 Universe.





	Backs to the wall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SDSlanderson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SDSlanderson/gifts).



**One**. Bruce is only human. He is all too aware of it. He wakes up with the fact every day and he goes to sleep with it.

**Two**. Superman is not human. No matter how much he pretends or thinks he is. He tries, and he does achieve some good results, but Bruce looks at him and _knows_. Bruce knows what humans are and Superman may have pulled the blinds on his eyes every once in a while, but he has not fooled him.

**Three**. Wally West is unbelievably human. So much so, that it’s a hindrance. Wally West is kind and trusting and all his virtues will lead to his demise. There are no two ways around it.

**Four**. Alexander Joseph “Lex” Luthor is only human. It is a sense of pride and shame for him. Pride because he is human and he has made it this far. Shame because he is human and nothing more. He constantly hungers to be _more_ , and morals are nothing but a mere suggestion to this man. His avarice will break the world.

**Zero**. Everyone and everything has a breaking point.

**Five**. Wally West is dead, dead, dead. And nothing can change that.

**Six**. The justice League splinters and changes. Not for the better according to human moral absolutism.

**Ten**. The uniform changes are a small thing but people _notice_. (And so, it begins.)

**Seven**. Superman changes his uniform. He changes it to colors of mourning in remembrance of the Flash. ( _He forgets to leave the mourning period behind and does not change the colors of his uniform ever again._ ) But his mourning colors also serve as a constant reminder. He will not allow the horrendous thing that happened to Wally West to ever happen to anyone ever again.

**Eight**. Diana’s uniform becomes more austere. The Justice League is taking a new path and she chooses to walk that path with her comrades. She now aims for full body coverage. Diana also starts wearing a cape. It’s not all the time. But it’s often enough. She remembers when he was around. “ _Capes are so cool, Di! Like if I wasn’t 3000% sure I’d trip over it while I was running, I would totally get a cape! The cool factor! The mystery! I love it!_ ” It’s her silent homage to him and it’s one of the few things that brings her joy.

**Nine**. Even Batman changes his uniform. _The Batman_.

**Eighteen**. They have a difference of opinions. Luckily, it’s in the bat cave and no one can see the great Lord Superman and Lord Batman tear each other apart like wild animals.

**Nineteen**. They don’t even know what it’s about.

**Twenty**. They know _exactly_ what’s it about. But they’ll be damned if they’re the first ones to break. They are Lord Superman and Lord Batman. They are above petty emotions like grief and healthy coping methods. So, they reach for the next best thing. A display of strength. After all, they have always been together. Entwined. They can take each other apart. But they are also the only ones who can put them back together again as they belong.

**Twenty-one**. There’s kryptonite involved. Both literally and figuratively. There’s the actual kryptonite knife that Lord Batman had in his boots. And then there’s the figurative kryptonite that Lord Superman speaks into reality.

**Twenty-two**. At this point they are no longer Lord Superman and Lord Batman. They are now Clark Joseph Kent/ Kal-El, and Bruce Wayne. And they are both so terribly lost and in so much pain.

**Twenty-three**. Kal is bleeding. Actually, bleeding from cuts that Lord Batman inflicted. And Bruce’s heart is being torn to shreds. Funny, how words are tearing him apart at this very moment. He thought he was over it.

**Twenty-four**. “I love you.” These are the words that Kal-El, Lord Superman, Last Son of Krypton murmurs to Bruce Wayne, Lord Batman, as the man holds a knife to his throat. He has never said these words aloud to the man before, but here they stand.

**Ten**. Lois Lane does not believe in justice or fairness. She knows her fellow human beings better than that. But her worldview is not something she makes public.

**Eleven**. Lois Lane is smarter than anyone gives her credit for. She will constantly prove again and again and over and over just how capable she is, but in the end, she is alone. No one understands her so she becomes great at putting on a mask and appearing less than she is. She would be insulted that no one has noticed, but it works out to her benefit, so she says nothing.

**Twelve**. Lois Lane is one of the few human beings to witness the transformation of the Justice League into the Justice Lords. As they _shift_ , she tries to remind them that humanity is worth fighting for, but once certain things are put into motion, they cannot be stopped.

**Thirteen**. Lois Lane and Alexander Luthor are both _very_ capable human beings. It is important to remember that, no matter how this story ends.

**Fourteen**. If she had known that this is what the future would have involved for her, Lois would have snapped Luthor’s neck with no remorse given the first chance. But she didn’t know. And so, she sits in a gilded cage because of her friendship with one Clark Kent.

**Fifth teen**. Martha and Jonathan Kent are excellent people who are so much _more_. What? You didn’t think that two ordinary farmers managed to keep an alien a secret from everyone around them for so long by being simply average, did you?  

**Sixteen**. They witness the execution of the Flash at the hands of Luthor and understand that changes will be happening and very soon. Martha sheds tears for Wally West. The colorful man child who, on multiple occasions had sat at her dining room table and tried to eat her out of house and home. She cries that he met such a cruel end and that the world is lacking in in one more good person. Jonathan holds her and remembers. He sends a prayer to the gods he doesn’t necessarily believe in for the West boy, because he deserves that at the very least. But he remembers. He remembers how he and Martha had feared that their son would end up in a situation like this, except in his fears, Clark had taken the West boy’s place.

**Seventeen**. When the time comes, they stand by their son. They may not agree with his exact methods, but it is much better than him being dead.

**Thirty**. Their love is ardent but steady. They never have disagreements in public, but when they are alone together, they will not hesitate to tear each other apart. Or, they are so much in love, it aches the heart to look at them. They are two broken men who are slowly healing each other.

**Twenty-five**. “Since when?” Lord Batman growls.

“For the longest time, B. Longer than I can remember,” Lord Superman admits in a moment of vulnerability.

‘Only he can do this to me,’ Lord Superman thinks to himself, ‘Only he can push me to the breaking edge and beyond. Freeing me from these rusted shackles and binding me in new ones.’

“Sometimes,” Kal continues, “I can barely remember a time before I loved you.”

**Twenty-six**. Bruce drops the knife. Oh, how he hates this man. This man, who is not a man at all. This man, who makes him feel things he had thought he had lost and forgotten.

He has compromised so many parts of himself for this man under him, and yet he is ready to sacrifice more.

“B, please. You know I would never to lie to you.” Kal not exactly begs.

“Prove it.”

**Twenty-seven**. Kal picks up the knife from where it has fallen. He makes a clean cut against his clavicle.

“I would willingly bleed for you, B. Do you remember the last time I bled?”

**Twenty-eight**. Bruce reaches up with trembling fingers and pulls the knife out of Kal’s hands. He lets himself marvel at the blood. He prods gently at the cut.

“You’re an idiot,” he breathes out.

“Only for you.”

And Bruce feels his breath catch in his throat. He loves this idiot so much. So much so that it hurts.

He leans down and kisses him. It was meant to be a chaste and simple thing but before he can catch his bearings, Kal is sitting up with his hands wrapped around him. Kal’s lips are firm and demanding. His tongue demands entrance, and Bruce gladly grants it. He can feel where Kal’s hands are digging into his sides and he can tell that he’ll have bruises to remember this occasion.

Bruce reluctantly pulls back from the kiss, panting heavily. He leans his forehead against Kal’s.

“This is only going to end badly.” He warns.

Kal brings him closer to his chest. “I know. But it’s a risk I’m willing to take. You’re everything I needed and more.”

**Twenty-nine**.

The course of true love never did run smooth.

But either it was different in blood.

**Author's Note:**

> Merry Christmas and Happy New Years! I look forward to hearing from you!


End file.
